The Genesis Project 1: Godzilla Vs.Tsunagara
by Mynt Cailen
Summary: An alien lifeform is uncovered in the heart of Antarctica on a mission to find its missing child in NY. Can a mad scientist and mad mother be stoped before NY crumbles? Please R&R!!
1. From Frozen Dreams

All original kaiju and character designs are trademarks of Toho Co., Ltd. Tsunagara created and owned by Shannon Miller. Please R&R! *^_^*  
  
  
Part 1: The Awakening  
  
:Antarctica:  
A sound. A slight, slight rise in the temperature, nothing more then two degrees. It was enough though. Her mind told her awake. Awake; arise, away from the cold, towards the heat. Towards the heat. There would be food there, always food...  
She was so hungry...  
  
  
Aaron Keller hugged himself, stepping in place, struggling to stay warm despite the arctic clothing he wore. The wind at least had died down a bit from yesterday. Yesterday had been hell, the skin piercing, razor-sharp cold wind had made everything zero visibility, lifting up loose snow to blind them and freeze them, rendering operations impossible for the day. Half an hour into the drilling they had to stop due to the conditions.  
Oh yeah, it had been a great idea back at the university. Such a great idea in fact, he had done nearly everything besides kill people to be on this project. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Loving it now, Aaron? He chuckled to himself with a shiver. Yeah, just great.   
"We've hit our target level." Jessica Langston yelled out to him from the sensors shelter.  
"Great." Aaron shouted back, giving her the thumbs up with one gloved hand.  
Nodding once, she motioned for Aaron to join her inside one of the science and research teams heated snow terrain vehicles. Without hesitation, he jogged clumsily acrossed the distance though the snow. God, I feel like a kid again. For a second he thought about reaching down and making a snowball to throw at Jess. Nah, too cold.  
Slamming the door shut behind him, Aaron began to tear the cold thermotech gloves and headgear he wore off, placing his hands on the vehicles heating vents. Jess giggled, her shoulder length brown hair bouncing with the motion.  
"Enjoying the vacation?'  
"The middle of freakin' Antarctica. Remind me to sue my travel agent."   
Jess smiled, pouring him a thermos cupful of coffee. Aaron gratefully took it. "Blake says he's already getting resonance sensor readings from the hole." She began, pouring herself some of the black brew.  
"Positive ID on anything?" He asked over his own cup.  
"He says it's something large, but not to get our hopes up yet. Could be false readings. We won't know anything for sure until we get the hole big enough to send a team down."  
Aaron shuddered. Part of the team's job was to dig down to the rocky Antarctic surface with the large drill equipment financed by some big cooperation whose name he couldn't remember, some Japanese-American joint company that he didn't even know what they did! Once the hole was large enough to fit a few men and equipment inside the shaft, they'd descend and take some initial rock core samples to send back to their labs for testing. Then, if things looked good, they could continue their paleontological diggings. Good plan, he just didn't like the idea of being stuck down a tiny shaft in the middle of a glacier. Who knew when the damned glacier might shift and collapse the shaft!  
Gazing out acrossed the landscape, Aaron tried picturing the land the way it had been nearly 400 million years ago. Plants, maybe some animals, some insects, living on a land not covered in frozen snow and glaciers, but muggy heat. Maybe there had been a tree here, a grass like plant here, a swarm of insects on carrion there.  
"Things sure have changed in a few million years." Aaron sipped from the already cooling coffee.  
"Don't worry, Aaron. This project'll be a big success, you'll see. So much of history will finally come to light." Smiling, she laid a small hand on the arm of his coat.  
Aaron smiled back. Began to say something.  
Then the tremors hit.  
  
Godzilla vs Tsunagara  
Project Genesis  
Story by Shannon Miller  
  
  
Chapter I: From frozen Dreams  
Aaron's face fell as he suddenly turned to look out the window, as if there would be something there he could see that was responsible for rocking the vehicle. "What the hell...?"  
Without thinking, Jessica grabbed the trucks walkie-talkie. "Base one, this is truck zero-three. What the hell was that?"  
Another tremor, stronger, rattled the insides of the truck.  
"I didn't think there were supposed to be earthquakes here." Aaron muttered nervously.  
"I dunno, Jess." Mike Galers voice said through the static of the walkie-talkie. "The epicenter though seems to be coming from Blakes position."  
Aaron's heart paused. "The drill..."  
Jessica nodded, starting the vehicle up. "Here, get a hold of Blake, see what the hell's going on over there."  
The snow made muffled crunching noises under the enormous treads of the snow terrain vehicle as it began plowing its way towards the snow dune before them. Yet another tremor, even stronger then the last one, shook them as Aaron tried to get Blakes channel set on the walkie-talkie. "Shit, I thought aftershocks were supposed to be weaker than the initial earthquake."  
"This isn't an earthquake." Jess muttered between clenched teeth. "Something's gone wrong. Really wrong."  
"Blake, Blake, man, this is Aaron. Do you copy?"  
"Dude, what the hell's going on? Everything's jumping like mad over here!" Blakes' rattled voice came over the speakers.  
"The drill..."  
"No, man, it's not the drill. The drill's just fine."  
"Shut it down anyway. Shut it down now!"  
"Hey man, the drill's fine I said!" Blake shot back.  
"Blake..."  
"Wait a second... Something is wrong with the drill. I've hit something hard. It's...it's...  
"Blake! Shut it down NOW!"  
There was a horrible tremor worse then any of the others as the sound of metal tearing away came crackling over the speakers.  
"Oh, shit man, what the fuck is that?"  
"Blake, Blake! What is it?"  
"Oh god." Jessica muttered.  
"Jesus Christ, no way! Help me man! Help!"  
Aaron hollered out to Blake. Blake had begun screaming, shouting something and then....  
"Blake?"  
"Oh god. Aaron, look!"  
Setting the walkie-talkie in his lap, shaking and actually sweating, sweating in the middle of Antarctica, he looked up to where Jess was pointing.  
And screamed.  
  
  
"No no, the creature left us alone. We only have one casualty to report. Yes, one, Blake Galers, Mike Galers brother. Yes, yes, I said creature, how many times do you want me to say it. It was a big freakin' monster!" Aaron sighed, his face red from yelling into the stations radio, the only contact the science and research team had with the rest of civilization.  
Jessica sat acrossed from him, crying into Mike's arms. He had a few tears for his brother too, but mostly he was too scared to do anything else. Hell, they were all scared, the whole team.  
"No, I'm not drunk! We want off this snowball, now! I don't care if you HAVE to drag the pilots out of bed, we want out, you hear!?" With that, he angrily flipped the comm off, yanking the earpiece free from his ear.  
"Jesus, Aaron, what was it? What was that thing?" Mike whispered, still trying to soothe Jessica.  
Aaron shook his head as the rest of the twenty-member science team looked to him. Looked to him as if he had all the answers. "I don't know, Mike. I honestly don't know."  
"We've dug into hell." Jessica sobbed.  
Aaron looked at the print he'd made as soon as he returned to the base. It was fuzzy; the vehicle had been jumping around badly, and he really hadn't taken the time to focus the camera. But it was there. The monster that killed Blake, ruined their project...  
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought it to be a hoax.  
It walked on four enormous legs, legs bigger then the trunk of a Redwood. Sitting on those legs was a torso supporting two, long arms covered in layer after layer of muscle so thick it would have made steel cables look like thin thread. The neck was long and thin, whip-like actually, and it could have been mistaken for a tail if it weren't for the small, narrow head attached to the other end. The creature did have a tail though, a thick, scorpion-like tail that was actually longer then the rest of its body and seemed to curl in on itself a bit like a fern in spring before unfurling. It was covered in scales for the most part, strange turquoise and blue scales dotted here and there a bit with silver. But there were places where feathers hung in disgusting clumps from its body, nasty rotting brown and green colored feathers.   
He wanted to calm his mind. It was a frozen dinosaur come to life, that's all. But there was never such a dinosaur as this. No creature ever alive on earth that was like this. It had killed Blake when it rose from the ground, and then slowly began to thunder off to the north towards the Americas, dragging its impossibly long arms behind it. Impossible, the creature itself was impossible. Not a dinosaur, but where, where had it come from?  
"I'm scared." Jess whispered in the silence.  
"Me too." Aaron said.  
Scared for me, and scared for the rest of the world who's never seen this type of beast before... 


	2. Godzilla Returns

Chapter II: Godzilla Returns  
:Tokyo, Japan:  
Eric had remembered his exchange family saying something about them having drills set up for this kind of event. He was pretty sure they had, but it didn't look that way from his point of view.  
People and students ran from the building, some crying, and some shouting about something called Gojira. He thought at first that maybe that was slang for fire or something of the sort. Yeah, he was an exchange student in Japan, but he didn't know too much of the language, he figured most people here would speak some English anyway, right? No, Samantha was the most efficient in Japanese out of the exchange group that was visiting. Outside of the building, people were screaming and running into the streets away from the industrial district. Wow, must be some big accident. Cool.  
"Eric! Are you crazy!?" Samantha screamed at him, grabbing him by the shirt collar and dragging him behind her.  
"What's going on? Is it a fire? Why's everyone running?" He hollered to her over the screaming mass of Japanese.  
"Are you kidding?! It's Gojira!"  
"Yeah, I know, but what's Gojira?"  
There was a sudden thundering sound from the industrial district. Eric, now running on his own alongside of Samantha, looked back towards the explosion.  
He saw it all right, over the tall buildings and the billowing black cloud that began to spread out around it.  
"AHHH! It's Godzilla!"  
  
:Antarctica:  
The landscape was quiet again, the eerie quietness that only Antarctica can posses. It almost seemed as if nothing really did happen. Almost. There were still the enormous tracks left in the snow from the creature's feet and arms.  
Aaron wanted to be sure. Besides, he promised Mike. Mike who nearly ran out into the freezing cold without gear on, Mike who said he'd rather die with his brother. Mike who said he'd take the beast on. Well, Mike hadn't seen the monster.  
Leaving the vehicle running, Aaron stepped out into the freezing cold of Antarctica. The crumpled, metal remains of the drill truck were still visible, half buried in the snow. Next to the remains was an enormous hole where the creature had risen. Bits of frozen dirt and rock were thrown here and there. It was an ugly mess, and one that looked strange against the whiteness of the landscape.  
A strong, cold breeze blew, and Aaron turned his back to it, hugging himself against the shivers. Blake didn't survive the monster's birth from the cold landscape, that was obvious. But here? How did it get here anyway, and what brought it to life all of a sudden from its frozen slumber? And yet another question; how long had it been in there?  
Out of curiosity more than anything, Aaron walked to the edge of the crater, dropping to his stomach. Carefully, he leaned over the edge, suddenly gasping at what he saw.  
Rock, dirt and snow had been pushed up and mixed on the sides of the crater walls, creating a sort of dirty snow crater. A very big snow crater. On the bottom was a strange, blue metallic substance like nothing he'd even seen before. It sparkled and shimmered even in the shadows that the wall created.   
A shell... It looks like a shell.  
It was a stupid idea, but by the time he caught himself in the act, it was too late.   
Let's just hope curiosity doesn't kill this cat.  
Sliding down the walls, Aaron made his way to the center of the crater. Once at the bottom, he cautiously made his way towards the blue stuff.   
Down here, it was warmer, but not warm enough to cause the sweat that had begun to slide down his back. The walls blocked him from the roaring wind up above, also creating an eerie whistling sound above him. He was scared, oh yeah he was scared. His heart was trying to climb out his throat and back up the walls, his breath not that far behind. Slowly, almost slow enough to stop time, Aaron pulled off a glove, reached out to touch it...  
  
:Tokyo, Japan:  
"Oh, shit, Samantha. What are we s'pose to do?" Eric whispered to her, as if the king of monsters himself could hear his pathetic voice.  
Samantha shook like a leaf beside him in the small ally. Eric couldn't tell if her head was shaking on its own or if it was following the rest of her body.  
The thudding sounds increased as Godzilla made his way down the street behind the one they were on. Thud. Thud. Thud. It was the horrible beat to the march that ripped the sides of buildings off, broke water and power mains. The march that left nothing but Hell's destruction behind.  
"I... you think maybe we shouldn't be in here?" Eric whispered, looking up the side of the walls, picturing them crumbing down on top of Samantha and him, crushing the very life from them.  
No response from Samantha.  
"With buildings falling down around us and everything. We should be somewhere else. I don't see anyone else on the streets." Turning, he grabbed her arm. "Samantha? C'mon now, snap out of it!" He continued to tug at her arm.  
"I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die." She chanted quietly, tears streaming down her face.  
"Snap. Out. Of. It." He hissed, slapping her gently acrossed the face, just enough to get her attention.  
It worked. Samantha gasped, looking up at Eric as if he'd just snuck up on her. "Eric, we're gunna die. We're gunna die in Japan!"  
"No we won't." He growled back, finally able to drag her out into the streets. Oh, I so hope we won't at least.  
Then she screamed.  
Godzilla had made his way right behind their building, visible as soon as they'd exited the ally's shadows. Visible, up close. Way up close.  
Too up close for me.  
Yanking a screaming and crying Samantha behind him, Eric continued to run, run away from the tall buildings that lined the streets of Tokyo, away from the dark nuclear monstrosity behind them.  
With the sound of a hundred bombs, a hundred claps of thunder that vibrated his entire being, the king of monsters roared, long, low, and deep.  
Both Eric and Samantha hit the pavement, halfway acrossed the street, to cover their ears, screaming. Even with his hands over his ears, Eric could still feel the powerful roar working at his brain, threatening to tear it apart, ripping at his insides in the process.  
Eric could barely hear someone call out to him in Japanese.  
Looking up, he saw a man dressed in a Japanese military uniform waving at them, motioning for them to follow.   
Nodding, the two teens ignored the behemoth behind them, running with their savior to a small military style jeep.  
the man yelled at them over the roar of the jeeps engine and Godzilla.  
"Playing hide-a-seek with Godzilla." Eric muttered sarcastically, wiping sweat off his brow with a sleeve, watching the building they had been hunkered down next to slowly crumble. Godzilla was just too wide for the streets. He was making his own.  
Samantha replied for him in Japanese, tears still streaming from her eyes.   
"Jeez, the white skin and non-slanted eyes didn't tip him off."   
Samantha shot him an annoyed look.  
the military man nodded, tearing down the empty streets at what seemed like 100 miles an hour.   
Eric was loving it. Forget about Godzilla close enough to blast them into oblivion, and it was an awesome ride. Samantha seemed to be thinking otherwise by the look of her knuckles turning white as she clung to the seat.   
Samantha asked the man as the jeep roared over a small pile of debris left from a building knocked over by Godzilla's tail.  
"Duh, I'm thinking military."  
He said, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.  
  
"Yeah, they're the branch of military responsible for Godzilla research and developmental weapons."  
"Weapons? Like nukes?"  
"Sheesh, for an expert in the Japanese culture, you sure don't know a lot about Godzilla." Eric shook his head. "Nukes'll only increase his strength."  
"Sheesh, for such an expert of G Force, you didn't even know Gojira meant Godzilla, huh?" She muttered back.  
Takahashi nodded.   
Both teens were shocked by the fact that he had understood their conversation.  
"So, where are we headed?" Eric asked after Samantha had translated for him, watching as Godzilla moved past them in the other direction.  
  
Samantha let out a small whimpering sound, barely audible over the roar of the jeep and Godzilla. Eric, on the other hand, suddenly grinned with joy.  
Cool. Way cool. 


	3. Enter The Terror

Chapter III: Enter The Terror  
:South Coast, Florida:  
Hunger. It was warmer now, much warmer. She liked the warmth. But she was still hungry, so hungry...  
Something else tugged at her. A strange, yet familiar calling...  
  
  
Palm trees swayed gently on a coastal breeze. It was a perfect day, and he should have been at the beach, relaxing with his family. Not here in full uniform, sweating in Florida's god awful tropical summer's heat. And what was this about a monster? A monster, in America, gimme a break.  
General alert sirens suddenly began whooping in the silence. Strange, even the gulls were silent, hidden away as if there was a hurricane approaching. The soldier shifted uncomfortably from the heat and nerves. Remember the gulls, his grandfather used to tell him. They can tell you more from their silence than anything else in the world can. Heed their warnings. But that was just an old wives tale to scare him, right?  
"Object heading onshore from the southwest." He heard someone call over the radio. "Object ETA is 30 seconds."  
Missile, he had heard some of the other soldiers say. It was some sort of new weapon, probably launched by the Cubans. But how had they obtained it?  
The other rumor he had heard, and which was the craziest ever, was that it was a monster, risen from an excavation site in Antarctica. Crazy. Nothing lived in the middle of that godforsaken land, much less a monster. Monsters were a thing to scare kids with.  
The sirens continued to whoop as ops counted down the objects ETA  
"10, 9, 8."  
Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough what it is, the man thought, clenching his teeth.  
".3, 2, 1."  
An enormous wave formed near the edge of the shore, rolling, boiling. It was so large, and hit with such force that if the platoon had been any closer, they would have been smashed and sucked into the ocean, men, weapons, and vehicles.  
Then, behind the wave, he saw it rise like the devil himself..  
At first, he though, Loch Ness monster. The head was small, and the neck was so long, a quick memory of playing with dinosaurs in his childhood flashed through his mind. The memory faded fast though as the rest of the monster - a god, actual monster! - climbed up out of the tropical waters and onto the land.  
One man screamed next to him. "Welcome to America!" shouted another from somewhere off to the side, opening fire on the beast. The cries of guns went off as men began to open fire on it, military precision and calm stripped away suddenly by the sight of the monster.  
The soldier stood there, wetting himself in fear as the beast made a strange, moaning-rumbling sound as it approached.  
Missiles went off, splashing small pinpoints of red onto the beasts beautiful scales, yes, they were beautiful. A small patch of the rotting feather things was ripped off. The creature moaned again, rolling its neck around, bringing up its incredibly long arms, swinging, trying to knock away the missiles, small needles that seemed to irritate more than hurt it.  
The last thing the soldier saw as he screamed in terror, too late to run away, was one of the giant hands come crashing down on him.  
  
:Tokyo, Japan:  
General Takahashi led the two American teens to the temporary command center that had been set up outside of the city. It was in the wake of Gojira's destruction, so they were safe, unless the king decided to come back this way out through Tokyo-wan.  
"General, sir!" A younger man ran up to him, saluting. "We're just received a message from the US. A kaiju has made landfall from the Gulf of Mexico onto the southern Florida coast, heading north towards residential and industrial areas. They are trying everything they can, but the situation is out of their hands it seems. They are asking for any international assistance they can get."  
Takahashi nodded, a puzzled expression on his face. "Kaiju? Is there anyway to tell which it might be?"   
"No, sir. In fact, according to their reports, it's a new one. Our men are calling it Tsunagara for now."  
"Tsunagara.." He repeated it silently, looking over at the two teens.  
The one teen, Eric, didn't seem to hear what the Lieutenant had said. Samantha though, had. Her face had gone white with shock. Her face had been pretty white most of the way to the temporary command center in fact.  
The Lieutenant dropped his salute and looked around the General to the teens. "Gomen, sir, but who are they?"  
"They're Americans. They didn't know what to do, and were hiding in an ally. I found them just before Gojira knocked the building over."  
The Lieutenant muttered something, nodding.  
"Lieutenant?"  
"Hai?" He snapped back to attention.  
"Take them someplace safe and out of our way for now. We'll try to reunite them with whoever they're with when we're done, but for now, keep them safe."  
"Yes, sir!"  
As Takahashi strode away, the Lieutenant moved towards the two Americans. "Do you understand Japanese?" He asked them slowly, hoping they did. His own English wasn't that good, it had been years since he had to use it last.  
Both the teens nodded.  
"I'm second lieutenant Natsuki of G Force command. General Takahashi has put you two into my care until we can reunite you with whoever you were with."  
JSDAF helicopters buzzed by over head, laden down with large missile launchers, machine guns and advanced antinuclear impulse weapons. Spot lights attached to a few of the lead helicopters raced over the small camp, adding even more light to the already generator-powered fixtures. Eric looked up and stared at them in awe.  
Samantha took little notice of them as she smiled politely back at Natsuki. "My name's Samantha, and this is Eric, Lieutenant Natsuki. Are we safe from Gojira now?" She asked in Japanese.  
Natsuki shook his head, smiling apologetically. "For right now, yes. Gojira is an unpredictable beast though. Who's to say he won't head back this way?"  
The girl seemed to go white again. "And... what about the one General Takahashi was talking about? The one that is in America? Tsunagara, I think you called it?"  
Natsuki shifted his weight uncomfortably. How much were these teens supposed to know, and how much was classified? Takahashi hadn't mentioned anything about that. Damn him for leaving me in charge of a decision like this. He just hoped this wouldn't get him booted from G-force, or even the JSDF!  
"Hai, there's reports of a kaiju on the North American mainland."  
Eric spoke something to her in English, Samantha probably translating what he had said.  
"Nani?! Tsunagara?" Eric burst out, excitement from the sight of the JSDF 'copters leaving his face.  
"Gomen. Would you two please follow me? The General has left me in charge of your safety."  
  
:Osaka, Japan, Ikeda-Remming main HQ:  
Hiroki Ikeda stood behind a large glass window that overlooked Osaka-wan, hands clasped loosely at the small of his back. Gulls dove and soared below, and even farther down, cars passed, and people dashed around like so many ants in the artificially lit streets. All that though seemed to pass by without his notice. His mind was on something else. A frown tugged at the corner of Hiroki's lips. John Greenfield was late. And Hiroki didn't like to be kept waiting.   
"Koban wa." A man said upon entering the enormously spacious office.  
Hiroki waited until he heard his secretary close the gigantic double oak doors before turning to face his visitor. "Konban wa, Greenfield-san. You are late." He spoke without emotion, bowing slightly before the tall, built American.  
"My apologies, Mr. Ikeda. I had some last minute things to attend to in Chicago. I was lucky enough to catch this flight as it was." John bowed back.  
Hiroki grunted in response, moving towards a large, black leather chair behind a matching black desk that was spartan of anything warm and friendly. "Please, have a seat." He motioned to another leather chair, smaller though, on the opposite end of the desk.  
Nodding, John shifted a small briefcase to his left hand. Walking up to the seat, he sat down after Hiroki took his own seat, placing the briefcase onto his lap and unclasping its combination locks. With hardly a rustling of the papers, John pulled out three sheets of printout reports, handing them acrossed the desk over to Hiroki.  
Accepting them, he sat back into the leather chair and began reading. John sat patiently as Hiroki flipped over one page, then a second, and finally placed the report onto the desk.   
"As you can see, everything in both the American and Japanese labs are going as well as was expected." John broke the silence.  
"I see." Hiroki said with a nod of his head. "And the results of the Antarctic core samples?"  
John's heart stopped as he stared at the one man who possessed more power than even he did with as neutral an expression as he could command. Obviously, Ikeda had somehow found out about the creatures awakening. He knew he should have contacted him, but what could he have done? Neither of them had the power to stop a creature with such a capacity. Might as well just let it go and let the army deal with it. If and when the military had the monster under control, then they could take control of the beast itself. "Sir, I thought it best that the military take care of it. There was nothing either of our groups could have done even if I had let you known."  
"I don't like getting information about my projects over the news." Hiroki growled at the man, slightly irritated. John was right though. Even if he had been informed about the development, there wouldn't have been a single thing he could have done, even with his ties in both the Japanese and American military hierarchy. "So, the Antarctican beast has awaken. What of the one from Siberia?"  
"Still hasn't awaken. My teams lead scientist thinks it might be in some sort of coma brought on from its landing." All for the better, John thought, smiling to himself. The one from Siberia had been a major pain in the ass to ship to New York where they had to build a holding facility for it, disguised as an military airplane manufacturing warehouse. This one was smaller then the one that had suddenly awaken in Antarctica, and with the new one's sudden arrival onto the mainland, John began to worry that maybe they were holding the baby of...whatever these aliens were.  
Yes, aliens. Monsters that had arrived here, according to their latest calculations, just at the extinction of the dinosaurs at the beginning of the first great ice age. Dormant for all those millions of years, and they were still alive. It was incredible, almost impossible to conceive that something in their molecular structure could give them such longevity. Which was part of their research, to unlock those molecular secrets.   
"Something else, Greenfield-san?" Hiroki asked, breaking the sudden silence between them.  
"Yes. We have reason to believe the new alien is actually the mother. It is larger in size, and is headed on a now direct course for the facility in upstate New York. Sir, unless we destroy the baby, and break whatever telepathic link there is between the two, the larger one is going to wreak hell all over the East Coast!"  
"No!" Hirkoi leapt from his chair, moving back towards the window. "You do not have permission to destroy the beast."  
"But sir!" John stood, his hands spread out on the desk. "Millions of people will be killed or injured. There'll be hundreds of billions of dollars worth of property damage, and all the equipment and men that our military pour into their efforts to stop this monster will be completely lost!"  
"I said no, Greenfield!"  
"Mr. Ikeda! You can't condemn us like this! Either you bring in your own men to stop the mother, or I will have the baby destroyed, by god!" Snatching his briefcase, John stormed from the office, letting the heavy oak door to bang shut with loud thunder.  
Hiroki scowled as he stared angrily out of the window. Wrong move, he thought, slowly reaching into his business jacket, pulling out a small cell phone. Punching in an already preprogrammed number, he listened as the phone rang twice before someone answered. "I have a job for you. Three million for John Greenfield. I want it done tonight." Replacing the phone back into his jacket, Hiroki continued to stare out the window. He had done so much, and come so far to simply let an ant crush his efforts now. 


	4. Tokyo Trembles

Chapter IV: Tokyo Trembles  
  
She could sense him closer now. Her baby. Far away yet, so far away. Yes, she could sense him, but something was wrong. He wasn't responding to her calls. Why? Why was he so far away? Was it these strange creatures that impaled her with their loud fire? The fire stung, some hurt bad.  
And there was something else. She sensed something else. Not her baby, but it too was close...  
  
:Tokyo, Japan:  
Goddzilla, king of monsters, howled as another anit-nuclear, armor-piercing missile ripped past his thick hide and bit into soft flesh.  
Turning, he spotted the small, human machine that had let loose its volley on him. With a small growl, Godzilla's three rows of dorsal fins lit up, a sudden surge of nuclear atom fire erupting from his toothy jaws.  
The machine lasted for a few seconds before melting in the intense thermonuclear fire. That, as far as he could see, was the last of those annoyances.  
Above, the thumping of the humans airborne machines peeled away, finally giving him some moments of peace. It had been a while since he had had to come back to this place, the land of mankind. For as long as he could remember, he had been ruining waste to mankind's lands. He hated man, hated the power they abused, the earth that they destroyed, -their smell- but it was necessary once again to tread on their soils. Yes, there was another challenge calling to him, even greater than his challenge to mankind.  
An old, yet familiar nemesis.  
Miles away yet, but also headed straight towards him, was the giant winged pteradon, Rodan.  
Roaring to the heavens in challenge, Godzilla began his lumbering walked towards the airborne kaiju.  
Upon hearing his challenge, Rodan screeched back his own. He dove, snapping opening his wings just above the tops of the tallest buildings. The slipstream left by his monstrous wings ripped billboards off of buildings, scaffolding, and tops of the buildings themselves in some instances. More rumble was added to the city.  
Godzilla growled in annoyance. Rodan was constantly showing up in his territory. And the time had come to show him that he wouldn't tolerate it any further.  
With a cry loud enough to shake the heavens, Godzilla let his deadly energy play along his spines, waiting, waiting...  
Just as Rodan was ready to dive at him, Godzilla opened his maw, a horrifying line of atom fire racing towards the pteradon kaiju. Rodan screeched, spilling the air out of his left wing to avoid the attack. But he wasn't fast enough. With a horrible pain, the atom fire blazed acrossed his right wing, up and over onto his back. No longer able to stay airborne, he crashed into a line of still standing buildings, taking out three of them before coming to rest against a fourth.  
Growling in triumph, Godzilla made his way over to the downed kaiju, grabbing him by the spines of his wings. Claws dug tightly into whatever flesh there was, greatly irritating the burn on Rodan's right wing.  
In his own guttural language, Godzilla spoke to Rodan.  
-Stay away! Leave these mankind lands. They are mine!-  
-No! Never! They are MINE!- Rodan cried back, swinging his head around in circles.  
In doing so, one of his horns came up under saurian's jaw, throwing his head back and making him bite his tongue.  
With a cry of pain, Godzilla let go of the other kaiju's wings.  
Suddenly free from his captor, Rodan spun around on his dainty feet and began to beat the saurian's body with his powerful wings.  
Godzilla, suddenly taken by surprise, backed up, trying to bring his arms up to protect his head and body.  
Rodan let loose a series of hooting cries at his success  
-Rodan's! Rodan's! All Rodan's!-  
Pissed at the pteradon's sudden proclaimation of victory, Godzilla swung around, catching Rodan with his thick, armored tail.  
Rodan cried out again as he fell into another building, its upper levels falling on and around him.  
Clapping his clawed, saurian hands, Godzilla chuckled at Rodan's sudden predicament. Turning around again, he began to beat his tail up and down, pounding hard over and over on the fallen pteradon's chest.  
Unable to climb to his feet and out of desperation, Rodan shot his head forward, snatching the saurian's tail in his beak, and bit.  
Godzilla cried out in pain, swinging his body around to stomp on Rodan instead with his feet. Luckily for Rodan, the motion yanked him up out of the rumble, and he managed to climb back to his feet via his enemies tail.  
  
"At this rate, it won't be worth rebuilding the city." Natsuki muttered, shaking his head as the two kaiju continued to rumble.  
"And if we're lucky, they'll finally take each other out." Takahashi replied, lowering his binoculars. Natsuki was right though. If there was to be any part of Tokyo left standing, something had to be done with the two kaiju who played with the city like a bunch of children with toys.   
"Any word yet on the American's own problem?" He asked Natsuki, looking down at the man from his perch on top of one of the JSDF's camouflage trucks.  
"Hai, but nothing good. Seems they can't diverge the kaiju from its path. Tsunagara is ripping its way right up the East Coast, due to arrive in New York sometime in the next few days."  
Takahashi shook his head running a hand through his jet black hair. According to what the Americans were saying, this new kaiju was at least the size of the final form of Biollante, if not bigger, and yet more destructive then that horrid alien kaiju, King Ghidorah.   
But why? Why the U.S.? Takahashi asked himself. All the other kaiju are concentrated in Japan or the surrounding islands. Why the U.S?  
It almost seemed as if Tsunagara was heading towards something, as if on a mission. But for what, and why?  
He had a sudden, strange feeling that there was more behind this whole incident then what was showing on the surface.  
  
  
:St. Lukes Hospital, upstate NewYork:  
Aaron woke up, screaming.  
"Stop!! Stop!!! Oh my god, stop shooting me!!! It hurts!!! AHHHHH!"  
Jessica and small group of nurses all nearly jumped on him. Someone yelled to hold him down, keep him from moving, as if they hadn't already figured that out for themselves. Another ran out of the room to grab a doctor  
"Aaron! Aaron, calm down!! It's ok! We're back in the States. No ones shooting you!" She leaned over his face so that he could see her and hear her over his own frantic shouts.  
It took him a second to calm down as his eyes snapped open, focusing on her. Tears streamed suddenly down his face as he sobbed, shuddering in pain. "It hurts, Jessica. Someone's shooting me...it hurts."  
"No one's shooting you, Aaron." She replied shakily, wiping a dry towel acrossed his sweaty brow. "We're back in the States now, safe."  
"The...the monster." Aaron swallowed hard. His throat was dry. "The monster hatched or something. I, I went into the crater. There was a strange blue substance in there. I touched it, and then..." He shook his head, putting his hands to his face as the nurses finally let him go. "I, I can't remember, Jess. What happened? I can't remember anything!"  
Jessica sighed, closing her eyes against the too bright, too white walls of the hospital room. Had it been possible, she would have closed her nose against the nauseating smell of antiseptic and sickness too. She hated hospitals.  
Thank god you're all right, she thought with a smile as she held his hand. "Well, when you didn't check in or come back, Mike and I headed out to look for you. We found you, passed out and barely alive at the base of the crater the beast made. After we managed to get you back up to the surface and back to the camp, our ride had arrived. I left Mike in charge of packing up and out while I took half of the crew and you back to the States as quickly as we could." She squeezed his hand, still thanking god that he had woken up. "For a while there, we didn't think you'd make it. You just seemed to have suddenly slipped into a coma. The doctors have no idea what caused it, other then maybe stress. They want to run some tests on you."  
Aaron winced in pain as he nodded. "Sure, fine. Anything, as long as it helps get rid of this goddamned pain."  
Jess smiled, nodding as two doctors entered the room followed by two FBI looking men and a nurse carrying some medical odds and ends. "I have to go for the moment. Don't worry, the doctors'll take good care of you, okay?"  
Aaron nodded slowly, settling slowly back into the paper pillow. "Aright. And Jess?" He held on fast to her hand as she stood to leave. "I just wanted to say..."  
"Later." She quickly interrupted. "You need to rest for now."  
A slight shocked expression on his face, Aaron nodded, letting her slip out of his hand.  
Don't worry, Aaron. We'll get through this. Together.  
"Miss Langston?" another one of the FBI types asked her as she stepped out of the door. "You're friend's awake now. If you would come with me..."  
"Only if I get some answers in return." She growled at the man, instantly hating him and his cronies.  
The FBI type stared at her for a moment, unmoving, emotionless. Then, "Miss Langston? If you would, please."  
  
  
' 


	5. Ikeda's Plan

Chapter V: Ikeda's Plan  
:remote area, upstate, New York:  
The baby slept silently, it's chest, big enough to hold a small house in, rising every now and then as it breathed.  
The baby. His baby.  
What secrets do you hold inside, little one? Ikeda smiled, placing a hand on the creatures cold, turquoise scales. What will you teach me?  
John had been properly disposed of and, to Ikeda's even greater delight, his sudden death was unquestioned, and he hadn't had time to contact the facility in time to order the destruction of the baby Tsunagara.   
Now with the sudden threat to his project eliminated, he could concentrate on the new problem that had suddenly arisen.  
The mother Tsunagara.  
John had been right, Tsunagara was coming for the baby. She was still headed towards New York, her journey leaving nothing but destruction and death behind. Ikeda didn't care. It was a small price to pay and besides, Japan had been attacked and survived numerous kaiju invasions. The United States would prosper once again as well, someday. But he wouldn't allow her to take away his baby, his project, not with all the time and money he had spent in all of this.  
Thanks to his contacts in the American government, who he had promised to rid them of Tsunagara, he finally had the permission he needed to protect his baby from its angry mother.  
"Mr. Ikeda?" One of the American scientists interrupted him out of his thoughts.  
"Yes, Doctor? What is it?" Ikeda replied in his heavily accented English, irritated.  
"We managed to get a hold of a General Takahashi of G Force command, sir." The doctor offered the cordless phone over to Ikeda.  
Nodding, he accepted it.   
  
  
  
General Takahashi stood in shock for a moment. "Get rid of Gojira? How?" He finally managed to ask, skeptical. Ever since G Force had been put into effect, they had never came close to ridding Japan of Gojira. Was it even possible? Had this mysterious new man honestly come up with a solution for their kaiju problem?  
"I mean to use him to destroy the American kaiju."  
"Tsunagara."  
"Yes."  
At first, it sounded like a great idea. But hadn't Gojira always won out in the end? Wouldn't that happen again? And then what? But if he was destroyed, what about Tsunagara?  
"But how will you control Gojira?" Takahashi asked, looking over a current report on the Rodan-Gojira situation. The two terrors had broken off their fight hours ago, allowing the rescue and salvage crews to finally move in. Suddenly though, Rodan was spotted heading back towards Tokyo. And he was pretty sure that Gojira wouldn't be too far back in following. The two kaiju seemed to have a strange, territorial relationship going on.  
"Easily enough, General. In 1985, the Japanese government put into effect a project which utilized the migratory calls of birds to lure Gojira away from Tokyo and to a nearby volcano. While this attempt in his destruction didn't actually work, the system of luring him did. Now, you can use that do direct him to the United States to the area chosen where he'll fight Tsunagara. From there out, my scientists can control him."  
"How?"  
  
  
Ikeda smiled at his end of the line, looking up at the baby.   
There was a long moment of silence from the other end. Give him to me, you fool, Ikeda shouted silently at Takahashi. It can only benefit the both of us!  
Takahashi's confirmation finally came through.   
Ikeda nearly shouted, grinning from ear to ear.   
I hope not, Ikeda-san. I hope not.  
In the best mood he had been in in a while, Ikeda turned off the phone, handing it back to the doctor who still stood patiently by his side. "Gather the rest of the team. Have them send out all the necessary information regarding the bird frequencies, the cleared oceanic route, and the final site within the hour to General Takahashi of G Force command."  
The doctor merely nodded, quickly moving away to carry out Ikeda's orders. 


	6. Alien Presence

Part 2: Kaiju In America  
  
Chapter VI: Alien Presence  
Aaron opened his eyes to glaring light. Wincing, he immediately shut his eyes. Reflexively, he went to turn his head...  
And couldn't!  
Panic suddenly took over his senses, and he began to squirm around. Restraints bound his head, legs and arms.  
I have a bad feeling about this, he thought to himself with a frown. Why had they suddenly tied him up? Hospitals didn't do that. Was it because of the contact he had had with the monster? But he hadn't been the only one, Jess had been there too. Maybe she's nearby.  
"Jess? Jessica?" Aaron called out, his eyes slowly adjusting to the intense light that shined from large fixtures high above him.  
An Asian face suddenly came into his view, thankfully blocking the light from Aaron's eyes.  
"Konnichi wa, Keller-san. How are you feeling?" The man asked him in a heavily accented voice.  
"A bit restrained." He tried to joke, still squirming in his bonds. "What's going on here? This isn't the hospital."  
"You are correct." The man nodded with a slight smile. "You are in my facility, and will soon become a part of my greatest project ever."  
"What?" Aaron winced instantly, feeling the strange pain returning. "What project? Why me?!"  
"Your contact with the alien substance down in the Antarctica crater has change the front lobe of your brain. You've been gifted."  
"My WHAT?!" Aaron shouted at him. "Nothing had better've messed with my head!"  
"Ah, but trust me, Keller-san. The change couldn't have happened at a better time."  
He winced against the pain that suddenly began to flood into his head. "What the hell are you talking about? What change? Lemme' GO, you psycho!"  
"Telepathy..."  
  
  
Aaron knew he had blacked out. He was floating, floating in nothing, the sky. A sky. Below him was a strange, lush, tropical landscape. The trees and plants, they didn't look like anything from Earth. Luminescent blossoms shot up from their treetop perches, bathing in the reddish light of the two nearby moons, so close that they looked like they were crashing to the planets surface. Haunting calls came from the floor of the forest, sending shivers up Aaron's spine. It's just a dream, just a dream, he told himself, gazing at the landscape below.  
And just as quickly screamed.  
The small, dinosaur-like head shot up through the trees and stared at him.  
Aaron screamed again. Tried to swim through the thick, humid air. But he could move, couldn't even fall!  
-Mother! Mother!- The creature moaned below.  
Mother?! He could hear, sense in his head, what the creature was saying?! Of course, Aaron laughed at himself. This is my dream. If I want there to be talking to monsters, I can!  
"Hello there!" Aaron waved, deciding to be jovial about the whole thing.  
The creature turned its head towards Aaron, and he could catch the sight of the long, scorpions tail arching slightly out of the foliage.   
For a second, it watched him, and then turned back towards the moons. -Mother, I'm calling! Mother!-  
Even in dreamscape, Aaron's heart was going out to the little guy. Fear was instantly gone, what real damage could this creature do him here?  
"It's all right." He called down to the strange creature. Why is it so smaller in my dreams? Aaron wondered to himself.  
-Mother! I'm scared, where is my mother?- the beast continued to moan, so sad, so deep that Aaron could feel tears rising with the lump in his throat.  
"Shhhh, relax. It's ok. I'll help you find you're mother, okay? I'm sure she's nearby."  
It blinked twice. -Must find mother.-  
  
  
"Damnit, I'm trying!" One of the doctors shouted at Ikeda, trying to control the restrained man's convulsing body by putting all his weight on it.  
"Give him more sedatives!" Ikeda hollered back.  
"He's OD'ed as it is! Anymore might kill him!"  
"The alien will kill him for sure if you don't! He's my project and I'm paying you, so do it!"  
"He's a human!" The doctor shouted back. "You don't own him! You can't control a human being like this!"  
Ikeda snarled at the man, pulling out a small hand gun from the inside of his jacket. The doctor stared at him in horror as Ikeda pulled the trigger. The shot rang loudly in the cavernous warehouse, silencing everyone but Keller and his convulsing body. Everyone close enough watched as the doctor held the blood-seeping wound in his chest before slowly collapsing to the floor. No one moved to help, no one dared.  
"Give him more sedatives." Ikeda growled to the nearest doctor.  
"Yes sir."  
"Sir!" Another scientist came running up to Ikeda, pushing wire-rimmed glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. "The baby Tsunagara, we're getting strange brain-wave readings from it and Mr.Keller."  
"Sir! I think it's awakening!" Shouted another man from a nearby work station before Ikeda could reply.  
  
  
She could feel him now, responding to her. But he wasn't alone. Something else was with him, smaller, yet just as powerful. In her mind, she called out to him, -I am here, I am coming, Young One.-  
He called back, a bright burst of colors. He wasn't scared anymore, wasn't alone.   
There was another ray of colors, from the Other, scared, confused, but helping her young one.  
She was in its debt.  
  
  
Home was gone now, so was the Other above him. He could touch mother's mind, and it was thanks to the Other.  
Mewing in happiness, he went to swing his tail...  
He suddenly cried out in frustration. Why couldn't he move? Where was he? So many, many strange things below and above him, the suns blinding him....  
Panicking, he pushed up with his enormous legs. Things held him in place, pushed him back down. Again he tried, crying out louder. There was a snapping sound, followed by another, and another. With an ear-shattering cry, he shrieked in triumph, climbing to all four feet, swinging over grown arms around.  
Loud sounds and small points of pain began to erupt against his hide, and he began to cry out in pain as tiny shots of fire ran through his being. Looking down, he could see many Others running around screaming, some pointing strange things at him. Small licks of fire erupted from these. The source of pain!  
Mewing in annoyance, he swung one of his arms acrossed the cold, hard ground that really wasn't ground, scattering many of the Others near him.  
Pain was suddenly coming from his other side, and he swung his neck around to target them...  
-Other?- he mewed, taking a step forwards.  
It was the familiar Other, from Home. It wasn't moving, wasn't floating above him anymore. This time, the Other was in pain.  
He slowly closed the lids to his eyes, releasing a long, low moaning from deep inside his throat. The Other began to calm down, the shadows in his mind not so dark anymore.   
He needed the Other. It promised to help find mother.  
  
Aaron woke up, a horrible headache still lingering at the edge of his mind. His eyes were still shut, sounds and sensations bombarding his senses. What the hell was going on? What had that quack told him before he blacked out? Telepathy? Wasn't that mind reading or something?  
What the hell have you done to me?  
Opening his eyes, a doctor stood over him, releasing his restraints. He was saying something, his mouth moving, and yet Aaron couldn't hear a word he was saying. Or, maybe, he couldn't understand?  
He felt so strange, like he was looking at himself through someone else's eyes and senses, but still in the inside looking out, and yet again as if he were in another place altogether.  
Jess, where are you? Was all he could think about as darkness shrouded his senses once again. 


	7. Jessica's Plan

Chapter VII: Jessica's Plan  
:Fairport, NY:  
They hadn't told her anything. She'd already figured out as much though. She didn't think they would tell her anything, but that was all right. The answers were already clear to her.  
Sweeping loose, red hair behind one ear, Jessica pressed the doorbell again.  
It opened just as she pulled her finger away from the buzzer, Mike Galers peeking out from behind the door. "Jessica!" He shouted, throwing open the door and quickly embracing her. "Damn, girl, you look like shit."  
"They have him, Mike." She whispered in his ear, still hugging him. "Whoever funded us took Aaron."  
"What? Who took him? Why?" Mike pulled her into the house, shutting the door behind him.  
"Ikeda-Remming, the joint company that funded the Antarctica expedition."  
Mike looked at her, confused. "But why would they take Aaron? That just doesn't make any sense."  
"We have to go back."  
"What? Are you kidding?"  
"No." Jessica pushed back hair behind the other ear. "No, we have to go back to Antarctica, back to the crater. That blue stuff at the bottom, do you remember that?"  
Mike nodded.  
"This all has something to do with that and the alien."  
"Alien?" Mike ran a hand through his hair. "C'mon, Jess, now you're starting to freak me out with all this."  
"I freaked myself out too, but I'm not joking. We dug up something that was asleep and would have stayed asleep, the alien, the Tsunagara. Now, I don't know what exactly that blue stuff was..."  
"Alien snot." Mike muttered  
"...But I figured that's why all those weird government types were so concerned with Aaron. He touched it, we didn't."  
"Jesus, Jess. What if it did something to him? What if they're doing something to him?"  
Jessica nodded, thankful that this whole meeting was going better than she though it was going to go. All the other team members that she had rounded up had taken a lot of convincing. "Come with us, Mike. We need you're help, your expertise. Aaron needs you." She suddenly felt a pain of fear, dread, sadness all rolled up into one in her heart. Why did it have to be Aaron, why? Why any of them, why any of this?  
Goddamned alien, she cursed, the image of the beast rising from the frozen landscape still burning in her mind. It was all over the news now, all over America, but the pictures they saw were so unreal. It seemed smaller, harmless, almost as if it were some Hollywood prank on American society.  
But it is real, so real, and we have to get to the bottom of this.  
"Aright, I'm in." Mike nodded. "But how are we going to do this? None of us has the funds to even get a plane to Antarctica, let alone food and supplies and the trip back!"  
"Ever hear of G Force?" Jessica asked with a grin.  
Mike blinked. "No, and I'm almost afraid to ask."  
  
:Mito, Japan:  
Eric grinned at the sudden news.   
Natsuki shook his head.   
"I'm not worried about that," Eric muttered as Natsuki exited the room.   
"So, your sister was one of the people on the original team?" Samantha asked, her eyes still glued to the T.V.  
Eric nodded, flopping backwards onto one of the hotel beds, tucking his hands behind his head. "Yeah. She told me before we left that she was going on some expedition, but she wasn't able to tell me anything about it. Man, can you imagine? She must have seen it when it woke up. Up close!" He shouted jealously.  
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you can tell people that you got to see Godzilla up close." She shuddered at the memory.  
"Hehe, you're right. And Godzilla is a legend. A lot better than some freaky alien."  
Samantha rolled her eyes. They were all big, scary monsters to her. She'd be glad when they left Japan, she had had enough of this place. Ever since Godzilla's initial attack on Tokyo, they had been carted all around by the JSDF officer, Natsuki.   
Godzilla. He scared her, and she hated him. It would be too soon to never see that horrible monstrosity again! Him, and that overgrown, winged lizard, Rodan. How could they possibly have laid waste to Tokyo like that?  
"So, um, when are we leaving again?" Eric asked, sitting back up.  
Samantha sighed, This would be the third time she'd tell him this. "Sometime tonight. You're sister arranged with General Takahashi to get home ASAP."  
"I thought all the planes were still grounded because of the Rodan threat?"  
"Well, yes, but this is a private plane, belongs to some merged company, Ikeda-Remming or something-other like that. I guess they're flying a bunch of scientists over to help figure out the Tsunagara problem down in the Carolinas. They'll be here in a few hours to pick us up."  
"Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see the Tsunagara too." Eric grinned.  
"God, I hope not!" 


	8. Landfall

Chapter VIII: Landfall  
:South Coast, Florida, the wake of Tsunagara's destruction:  
Godzilla continued to follow the sound onto the land, the call pulsing through every cell in his body. There was nothing he could do to turn away from it, but why should he?   
Why? It felt strange. The humans were behind this. He could feel that beneath the pulsing of the call. He growled quietly as his 25,000 ton frame settled into the sand with every step.  
Even in the dark, he could see the shadows of destruction, so similar to those that he himself had created so many times. But this wasn't any of his doing, none of any of his enemies.  
This was the work of a nightmare, somewhere ahead of him.  
And he was headed straight for it.  
  
Takahashi smiled as Godzilla climbed up onto the shore, still following them. It seemed to have taken them forever. Nearly did. Acrossed the Pacific, through Panama, the Gulf of Mexico, and they had finally reached the United States. American jets met up with his own forces with high-tech sound systems attached to their underbellies that emitted the same signals to Gojira as his jets did. As long as the could keep the signal going strong, Gojira would follow them.  
Until he met his nightmare, Tsunagara.  
The destruction was awful. It seemed as if an entire army had been wiped out. Bodies lay bloated in the sands and grasses, flocks of seagulls pecking at the bodies. Tanks, jets and other vehicles lay in crumpled heaps, the fires they had started long burnt out.  
They seemed to have done some damage to the kaiju though. Large circular marks of blood stained the landscape, and a few of the giant, turquoise scales were here and there. The question was, could this beast regenerate like Gojira? Could it already be healed, or was it still storming acrossed the landscape, tired and injured?  
Takahashi didn't know, and no one in the US army wanted to get close enough to it to find out either.  
Problem was, Gojira was more then likely weakened and tired from his long trek acrossed the Pacific. Would he even be able to fight when he reached Tsunagara?  
It was a chance they were going to have to take. Besides, as soon as they reached the arranged coordinates, Gojira was no longer his problem. It would be Ikeda's and the US governments.  
She was no longer hungry, that was for sure. There was food aplenty here in this strange place. Strange food, with odd tastes, but it was still energizing. For two days now, she gorged herself on the plantation, without harassment. The Others had stopped hitting her with their strange, painful things that burned, made her bleed. She was no longer worried either. The strange Other, the gifted Other was taking care of her Young One. Everything was perfect.  
  
Aaron felt numb as he woke up again. How long had he been out? Where was he? He was hungry, so horribly hungry...  
Once again, he was strapped down. IV's were hooked up in his arm, strange, green fluids dripping ever so slowly into the tube, even more slowly working it's way into his bloodstream. He could move his head though, and if it weren't for being so weak, he would have screamed.  
"Tsunagara." The familiar sound of the Asian man's voice reached his ears. "It's the baby Tsunagara. Isn't he beautiful?"  
Aaron tried to respond, but he was too tired, his mouth dry as a desert. "Water," he tried to spit out, but it came out more as a moan.  
"I thought that blue stuff was a shell, or part of a ship, wreckage, but it's not. It's a virus, a parasite. I'm not sure which." The Asian man finally came into view, walking towards the very large baby Tsunagara.  
The baby was laying down like a horse, its legs curled up underneath it. The scorpions tail was tightly curled up, resting on the back. Its long, muscular arms were resting against its sides, and its neck and head were resting against the floor, hardly more than four meters away. It stared at Aaron, unblinking, a small, moist puff of cinnamon scented air washing over him as the creature exhaled. Like this, he was so calm, so peaceful, and completely unlike the one that had risen from Antarctica, killing Blake.  
The Asian man stopped next to what was about the creatures cheek, running his hand underneath the small, turquoise scales that overlapped. He drew his hand back slowly, revealing the strange, metallic blue substance covering his entire hand. "Isn't it beautiful?" He whispered, rubbing it slowly with his other hand.  
The substance shimmered and began to disappear slowly as if it were being absorbed into his skin.  
"It's what binds these creatures together, binds everything together. The hum of nature, of the universe can be heard with this." Smiling, he returned to Aaron's side. "This is the purest element. It is power. It is control."  
"Crazy." Aaron managed to say through parched lips. He rubbed his tongue against the inside of his mouth, trying to work up more saliva. "You're a psycho."  
"Am I?" He chuckled. Slowly, he turned to face the beast.  
Nothing happened for a second. Then suddenly, the creature raised its head a few meters, a strange growl forming in its throat.  
"Hmm... He doesn't quite seem to like you."  
"You... You're controlling him." It suddenly upset Aaron, and he wasn't sure why. Because he had already befriended the beast? No... Because this man was abusing the gift, manipulating the creature. The child.  
I have to do something, he thought, closing his eyes. What was he suppose to do, focus? Say some magic words? How come they never taught you possible telepathic encounters in school?  
"You won't be able to touch the creatures mind." The man said.   
Aaron snapped open his eyes. "And why not? I touched the same blue stuff in Antarctica. I already spoke with the Tsunagara."  
The Asian man jiggled the green IV bag, grinning. "I had my scientists develop a sort of temporary antidote for the virus/parasite. It numbs the brain waves that you emit, rendering you unable to communicate with others. Unfortunately, it also dulls all of your senses."  
Aaron wanted to scream, thrash about, do something other than lay here, taking this crap. Jess, I don't know where you are, but please, please be ok...  
  
He felt so strange. He tries to call out to the familiar Other, but it wouldn't respond. Mother was nearby, but he was still worried. Another Other had begun to talk to him, make him do bad things completely beyond his control...  
-Mother, help us,- he whimpered in his mind, staring at the two Others. -Please hurry...- 


	9. The Battle Begins

Chapter IX: The Battle Begins  
:Northern Pennsylvania, Allegheny Plateau:  
"Okay, we have a visual." The American pilots voice came over the comm system.  
A minute later, Takahashi saw it as well.  
At least a dozen helicopters hovered a safe distance away from the Tsunagara. Buzzing around them, and zipping back and forth between tall, rolling green hills were jets, all American. His was the only JSDF plane left in the sky, all the others had turned around back in Florida.  
The Tsunagara's head was down, casually munching on the trees. The US military had stopped their fight against the creature long ago. As long as they didn't harass it, the beast seemed to ignore them, and did a pretty good job of migrating around larger cities and towns. There was some damage, but no where near as to what had been originally estimated.  
Behind them, Gojira lumbered closer, not quite moving as fast as he usually did. Takahashi could tell he was tired, hungry. This isn't going to work...  
The Tsunagara was bigger in person than what he had seen from feeds and pictures. It seemed to be easily three times bigger than Gojira, and no less hideous. Although it looked healthier now, its scales gleaming brighter, the clumps of feathers a bit brighter, more vibrant looking, it was still a hideous beast with its long, thin neck, tiny head and long, muscular arms and gigantic hands.   
There is no way Gojira is going to win this fight...  
  
The sounds suddenly stopped. He was glad for that, but he was hungry, tired...  
And something smelled very dangerous.  
Rising over the crest of the hill, he sniffed the air, glancing down at it. A strange, new monster, larger than himself. He could tell by its scent that this was what had caused all the destruction behind him. But this creature wasn't from here, from anywhere on the planet. Although even this place smelled unfamiliar to him, it was still more familiar than this creature's exotic scent.  
Growling in hunger, he began to turn away, to the northwest. He could smell large waters. There would be food there.  
  
Takahashi growled to himself in the copilots chair.  
The plane captain nodded.   
Takahashi had thought of that. He didn't bother mentioning the fact that there was a good chance it wouldn't work, that the kaiju would end up retaliating on the shooters instead of turning on each other.  
The pilot continued.  
I supose. Takahashi sighed, watching as Gojira continued to walk away from Tsunagara. Slowly, he flipped on the ship-to-ship comm headset he wore. "Captain Brown, this is General Takahashi. I have a suggestion..."  
  
The strange flying things began to buzz around her. She was a bit wary of them, but continued on with her feeding. She would need her strength when she found the Young One.  
Suddenly, there was a loud sound as pain erupted in her flank. Crying out, she threw her head up, watching as the flying things began attacking her.  
Evil things.  
Swinging up both of her long, muscular arms, she caught one of the things, crushing it slightly, throwing it towards the other one. It barely hit it, yet the other object began to flip wildly out of control, landing in a burning heap not to far away from its brother.  
Loud, angry cries came up from over the next hill, and she guessed that it was from the other creature that she had spotted moments before. It sounded as if it were in pain.  
-Help. I must help it.- She thought to herself, taking off at a surpassingly fast gallop in its direction.  
  
Gojira missed again. He was too tired, couldn't seem to focus on the planes that were shooting at him.  
One came in close, and he leaped at it, smacking it with a giant clawed hand. Roaring in triumph, he turned, watching the other two regroup and come at him, small licks of fire spitting from their artificial wings.  
The ground shook, and he paused a second to look, watching as the strange being galloped towards him.  
-Leave me alone,- he growled at it, turning his attention back to the humans who were attacking him.  
With an irritated cry, he opened his maw wide, releasing a horrific wave of thermonuclear atom fire. It caught one of the planes, which quickly crashed into the landscape below. The other veered off, barely in time, skimming his body and nearly clipping his shoulder.  
And then sudden, he was knocked off his feet.  
The creature mewed in triumph, furling and unfurling its strange tail. It had smashed the plane into his shoulder with one of its hands.  
-I said, leave me alone!- Gojira roared, climbing back to his feet. In a fit of rage, he released another wave of atom fire, hitting the creature straight in the chest.  
It moaned it pain, bringing up its large arms to block it. Instead, it left horrible burns on its arms.  
Shutting his mouth, Gojira growled warningly, turning away.  
  
It was a threat. She was only trying to help, but instead, it attacked her. There was a chance, then, that it could attack her Young One.  
A mothers first responsibility was to protect her child.  
A loud, high pitched cry rose from deep inside her. Pushing off with all four legs, she leaped, pouncing on the creatures back.  
It roared back at her in shock, immediately trying to turn over. Before it had the chance, she began to beat it with her hands.  
The creatures back suddenly began to glow, an unbearable warmth emitting from the spines on its back. With a strange sort of yelp, she backed off.  
That gave the creature enough time to turn over, attacking her with another wave of unbearable heat and pain.  
  
Gojira climbed to his feet, rage building up inside of him. He didn't think it would attack him back, especially the way that it had. Growling, he dove at it, grabbing at the scrawny neck. The creature mewed in pain, trying to pry his arms away with its enormous hands.  
And then it hit him.  
Blood sprayed from his shoulder as the creatures normally curled tail unfurled, the sharp point driving deep into his shoulder. He released his grip on its neck, staggering backwards, trying to pull out the end of the tail. With a terrible jerk of pain, the creature pulled it out itself, raising its arms high.  
He took the opportunity to dive straight at the creature, sinking claws and teeth past cold, hard scales and into flesh, pulling.  
The creature cried out shrilly in pain, grabbing the back of Gojira's head, but he pulled away on his own, huge chunks of bloody flesh yanked out, some bits stuck to his claws.  
A horrible, metallic taste flooded into his mouth as a strange, blue substance began to flow around the wounded areas. He rubbed his paws against his snout, trying to get the sticky, blue stuff off.  
The creature sank to all four of its knees as red blood gushed from the wounds and began to mix with the blue substance.  
It was down and weakened! Focusing as hard as he could past the hunger and weariness, Gojira released another spray of atom fire, watching in silence as the creature screamed and writhed in pain, unable to rise to its feet as blood ran from its wounds, the fire enveloping it.  
  
She was dying, she could feel it, but she couldn't! Her Young One was still at risk, wasn't safe. She couldn't die here, now. And yet, she had never fought before, not like this, against whatever this creature before her was. But she no longer had the strength to keep going.  
She suddenly stop her cries of pain as a strange warmth and numbness flowed through her. Closing her eyes, all she saw was her home, shadowed in the shade of blue. 


	10. Pure Form

Chapter X: Pure Form  
:Antarcica, the crater:  
"Jesus." Was all Mike could say.  
Jessica shook her head in disbelief.  
The crater was filled with dark green vines, broad, glossy-leafed plants and gorgeous, pink blossoms.  
These were tropical plants, there was no way they could grow in Antarctica in the middle of a glacier. There was just no way!  
"How, how could this've happened?" Mike stammered.  
Reaching down, Jessica ran a finger gently down one of the leafs, as if it were all a dream, and touching it would bring back reality. "It has to do with the blue stuff. I know it does."  
"Shit, you don't think it's doing the exact same thing with Aaron, do you? You don't think it's turning him into some kind of plant, do you?"  
She couldn't help smile, even despite the seriousness of the situation. "No. The Tsunagara touched it too, and that hasn't turned into some giant plant."  
"Watch, it'll just be a matter of time." Mike muttered with a shudder. "I think we'd better not touch the stuff if we find any of it."  
She silently agreed with him as she raised a layer of the thick leaves and vines.  
A small spot of the blue substance shimmered in the tiny beam of sunlight that hit it. Pulling out a small jar from a pocket, Jessica unscrewed the lid, using it to help her scoop up some of the gunk into the jar which she quickly resealed and deposited into her arctic coat.  
Had the blue stuff really grown these tropical plants, adapting them to the freezing cold? Was it possible? No, it wasn't, and yet here it was. Whatever it was, was definitely alien.  
Aaron, wherever you are, please, please be ok!  
  
:Upstate NY, facility:  
Ikeda smiled at the doctor as he relayed the message.  
"It's strange, despite its size, I guess the Tsunagara didn't put up much of a fight. Godzilla toasted it before the Tsunagara could do him any real harm."  
He nodded, and the doctor moved away, returning to his duties.  
-So, Little One, you are truly mine now.- Ikeda touched the beasts muzzle, feeling the beasts confusion and anger towards him inside his mind.   
The American scientist struggled still, swearing at him in the colorful language many Americans liked to use. It didn't matter though. Nothing mattered now, nothing...  
Bright waves of pain suddenly slammed through his body. Ikeda collapsed, struggling to breathe as the pain forced the breath from his lungs.  
All around him, he could hear voices, worried, some shouting. None of it made sense though, it was all gibberish as the pain continued to wreck his focus.  
Then, above it all, rose a mournful cry that actually made him want to weep.  
  
Aaron saw Ikeda collapse, moaning in pain. For a slight second, he was confused, concerned, but quickly recovered by grinning. "There, like that, you bastard? It's all worth it now, huh?"  
One of the scientists nearby shot him a warning glance. Aaron just grinned back even more.  
He could feel the sudden rush of pain swarm inside his mind, his entire body, but thanks to that Jappo-nutcase' telepathy blockers, it didn't quite have the same effect on him.  
But what the hell is it?  
Even Tsui, his new nickname for the baby Tsunagara, seemed to be trapped in the intense waves of pain, his neck stretched out and up as if he were choking, his scales suddenly glistening as the parasite/virus organism shimmered and hummed, flowing in and out of the spaces between scales. The effect made Tsui look like a giant, beached Leviathan. It was beautiful, but very, very horrifying to watch.  
"What the hell is going on?" Aaron shouted.  
No one paid him any attention.  
"Yo! Turncoat!" He shouted to a scientist who suddenly stood up from Ikeda's side.   
The man turned, looked irritated at Aaron.  
"What's wrong with them? Why are they..."  
Tsui opened his small mouth, a moan, sadder and louder than Aaron had ever heard him make yet, escape from the depths of his monstrous size. He suddenly found himself with tears in his eyes, the pain magnifying until he too was moaning in pain.  
So much for Ikeda's blockers, he thought as the sudden familiarity of blackness swept over him.  
  
It was more than a host. More than a symbiot even. It was home, it was a part of it's very own being now. More than just symbiots, they could touch each other, reach out to others, turning the many into one. But not a one like a hive. More of a one like a perfect machine, many pieces, each different, all unique, but making up the one, the whole.  
Lately, it could feel its reach expanding, the distances in-between great, but continuously expanding each time the electric tingle of a new live cell touched it.  
It had touched something unnatural of late though. A part of it actually died, simply ceased to function, to exist. What was this thing that could destroy with a touch of its own energy? What? What being could it have possibly encountered that had this ability? It, until now, was completely indestructible.  
Its current host was dying, almost dead. The beings touch had been enough to shock it, rendering the host unable to fight back. But now the thing was gone, and its host was dying. It couldn't die, couldn't let the host die.  
It flowed from every corner it hid in, every crevice, even from the unbearable heat that tried to consume it. In a strange, shimmering pool of blue, it collected beneath the burning, unconscious host.  
In a sudden, last effort at survival, it rose like a wall around the host, reaching towards the sun, shimmering and glistening in the pure heat, the pure energy that radiated from the small, yellow-white star. Collapsing onto the host, it smothered the flames with its own body, form, reaching into the live cells of the host that hadn't been utterly destroyed by the flames.  
As if it were the most simple thing in the universe, it began to rewrite the genetic material in each cell, forming them into new ones, more adaptable to what it needed. The newly rewritten cells shuddered, electric energy suddenly streaking acrossed their membranes. One of them expanded, pinching at the middle until the umbilical snapped, leaving two cells in place. As if on cue, thousands of other newly mutated cells began to pinch, to copy themselves. In an instant, there were millions where before there had been only thousands.  
And resting inside the very cells themselves, it found a new meaning to life. It no longer needed a home, a shell. It was now a free entity.  
It was now its own master.  
  
The tropical, alien landscape rose up from the darkness. Aaron recognized it, and was instantly calmed. If he was here, he assumed that Tsui would be too, meaning that the creature was now free from Ikeda's awful mind control.  
At least there is no pain here, Aaron thought with a smile.  
-Mother!- Tsui cried from below in the forest, his small, dinosaur-like head poking out from the trees.  
"Don't worry, it's all right, Tsui." He called down. "I told you before, I'll help you get back to your mom."  
"His 'mother' no longer exists." A heavily accented voice behind him spoke.  
Aaron whirled around in the air. "Ikeda."  
Ikeda was grinning, his eyes narrowed to nothing more than dark slits. He slowly held up one hand. The blue substance that Aaron had seen him pull out from Tsui's scales again covered his hand. The blue stuff appeared to be alive, shifting and rolling along Ikeda's hand. "It's the perfect organism. A parasite, invading and living off another organism. And, a virus, capable of replicating, and rewriting. Beautiful."  
Tsui released a small growl at the sight of Ikeda. Aaron agreed with the Tsunagara. "What do you mean the Tsunagara doesn't exist? What have you done to her?"  
Chuckling, Ikeda ran a finger from his other hand acrossed the blue stuff. "I actually had nothing to do with the Tsunagara's destruction. Gojira nearly killed it, and the parasite/virus merely rewrote whatever living cells were left to allow it to survive."  
-Mother!- Tsui came closer, his head almost grazing Aaron's leg. -Where's mother?-  
"Gojira?" Aaron whispered. "Godzilla?" To kill the Tsunagara, he would have to be in the U.S., and the only one that I know of who would be able to pull those kind of strings...  
"You goddamned bastard!" Aaron hollered, grabbing the front of Ikeda's suit with two fists.  
Ikeda smiled, and disappeared.  
-It's a pure organism. Its existence, down to its form is so pure, so magnificent.- The accent voice was all around him, inside of him. -The power... Not from control, but from creating.-  
"What have you done? Bastard, what horror have you just unleashed?!"  
-Genesis.- 


	11. Trouble With Blue Goo

Part 3: A Kaiju Reunion  
  
Chapter XI: Trouble With Blue Goo  
Eric's older sister picked him up at the airport where she had just come in herself. Samantha too was with them, but not as excited and happy. Word had just reached her that her father had died while on a business trip in Japan. Some sort of hit-and-run accident. Eric felt awful for her, but couldn't help but contain his excitement as Jessica told him about what was going on.  
"Your mom will be by to pick you up soon, Sam." Jess said back as the two teens followed her through the hallways of some large lab, its stereotype white walls and white jacketed lab technicians almost hilarious. "Until then, both of you'll just have to be dragged around. Sorry."  
"Sorry, for what?" Eric snorted. "This is awesome!"  
Jess looked back and grinned, although it wasn't completely real. Pain, fear, something of the sort was hidden behind it. But why, sis? What happened down there that upset you so much?  
"Hey, where's Aaron anyway? You haven't even said a word about him." The two of them, although they didn't openly admit it or even express it, were so obviously in love with each other that to a point it was almost sickening. It was a rare occasion that they wouldn't be working on some project or hanging around together.  
There was a small flinching in Jess's shoulders as she continued to walk down the hall in silence. "Try not to mention it." Mike whispered to him, shaking his head.  
They were all silent as they ended their walk through a door that led into a room surrounded by monitors and status machines which in turn contained a glass wall encasing another, smaller lab. A tall, yet young looking doctor stepped into the first, larger room, sealed head to foot in a white biohazard suit.  
"Hey, Jess! Long time no see." He grinned, striping off the gloves and tucking them under his arm.  
"It's good to see you too, Lance." Jess smiled back, reaching into the small duffel bag she carried with her. "I wish I came on better terms though, I really need some help and..."  
"Say no more, I am the man for the job!"  
"Thanks, I knew I could count on you. Here."  
Lance took the Tupperware-like container that she offered him. Eric shifted positions to get a better view of what was inside, but all he could see was some sort of metallic blue stuff.   
A confused expression slowly crept up on Lance's face as he held the container up to the light and turned it, as if that would reveal what lay within. The blue substance shimmered and danced in the light, almost as if it were alive, dancing in the light. "Uh, can I ask what this is?"  
"You can, but I wouldn't be here if I knew, would I?"  
"Smart ass," her chuckled as he began to reglove his hands. "Okay then, since you put me up to the challenge, I accept."  
  
Yawning, Eric reloaded the PAC-man game that he had been playing on one of the lab computers for the past almost two hours. Samantha had been picked up by her mom less then an hour before, and he had been offered a ride home. He would have accepted if he had known the stupid computer database thing would have taken this long. All the advances to computers, and you still had to wait forever for any sort of results.  
Inside the glass encased lab, the blue stuff, which was now out of its Tupperware container and in various different tubes of all sorts, was hooked up to god-knows-what, all of which were somehow connected to the computer.  
Every once in a while, Jesse would shake her head or tilt it curiously, where as Lance continued to shake his in disbelief. Any second now, Eric was willing to bet, it would fall off.  
"This is... I don't even know!" Lance finally exclaimed in frustration. "I have no clue as to what this stuff is, and neither does the computer database. It's an organism all right, but it's almost as if its not. As if it hadn't even originated from this world!"  
Jessica nodded. "Well, you're right there."  
"Huh?" He asked, looking at her curiously.  
"This blue stuff was found at the base of the hole where the Tsunagara rose from in Antarctica. I was just down there, and just from the past few days, its made a paradise of the hole. Strange tropical plants that have no right even existing down there are thriving as if it were Brazil. Aaron touched the stuff, and so did the Tsunagara, obviously. I'm not sure exactly what it will do to them, if anything. I'm sure it won't, but the Government obviously knows something about this, or is freaked out by this discovery as the rest of us.. They aren't giving me any answers, not even a clue as to where Aaron is, his condition or what's happening, so I think it's time we took matters into our own hands."  
"Uh huh. The government. They aren't hiding anything about the Tsunagara from us. Why would they try and hide Aaron?"  
"Well geez, its not exactly like they can hide the Tsunagara." Eric rolled his eyes.  
Both scientists jumped at his voice, obviously forgetting that he was still with them.  
"So then why hide Aaron?" Lance pondered, staring out at the substance attached to the numerous sensors. "They can't can't hide the Tsunagara, can't hide anything about it. The entire world knows as much as anyone else. So what is so important with Aaron? Why is he suddenly very special, valuable to him?"  
Eric stretched, letting out a short yawn. "Maybe he can talk to it," he muttered grumpily.   
Lance shook his head.  
Jessica merely stared at him. "What?"  
Worried about hitting a sore spot, Eric quickly apologized. "It's nothing, sorry. Just another outburst from your retarded brother."  
"No, not retarded. Maybe, maybe it did do something to him."   
Both Lance and Eric frowned. "What?"  
Jessica wrapped her arms around herself. "Well, now that I think about it, it may not be talking with the Tsunagara as much as a telepathic connection.   
"On the plane ride back to the states, Aaron seemed to be in a lot of pain, although nothing was physically being done to him. I first thought it was shock, but then he started saying things like he was being shot, and he was on fire, saying he was trying to reach a 'little one.' None of it made sense to me, so I contacted a doctor up in Upstate NY. He directed us to a hospital when we landed, and got Aaron in right away. He was still moaning and crying out.  
"When we finally reached the hospital a bunch of stereotypical government types were waiting in and around the room. Freaked me out. But I know Aaron's never done anything to get himself into so much trouble the feds were involved, which suddenly hit me. Why were they there? It must have had something to do in that crater down in Antarctica.  
"That's where I found this blue alien substance. It had somehow changed a harsh, frigid and void crater into a lush, tropical landscape, capable of surviving in the cold. It was... Beautiful, and impossible."  
Lance and Eric sat wide eyed as Jessica completed her story. "And do the feds know you've been back to Antarctica?"  
Jessica frowned. "Probably. All that stuff has to be cleared by border patrols before exiting and entering the country. The clearance codes are probably recorded at some government station somewhere. Why?"  
"Who's to say they won't come after you?" Eric finally caught on, replying for Lance. "I mean, think about it! You actually have a sample of this weird crap. Obviously, Aaron touched it, just like it touched the ground in Antarctica. They're all connected by that," he pointed to the container which shimmered. "You found the missing link, Jess, and it's not going to take long before the feds come after you for it."  
"Shit," Jessica smacked her forehead, pissed at her stupidity and her brothers incredible intelligent deduction. "You're right. Crap, I can't believe I didn't even think of that!"  
"Great," Lance suddenly looked worried. "Jessica, this..."  
"I know." She sighed, moving to pick up the Tuperware contained sample. "I'm going to leave now. Have to find someplace safe to hide this." She gestured with the container.  
Lance nodded, leading them outside, Jessica hiding the container under her lightweight jacket. The group was quiet, Jessica's thoughts on Aaron and the possible trouble she had gotten herself into, Eric's on how to help his sister out. Neither could think of anything else good while they passed the same white walls and doors, the same stereotypical doctor-clad people that the had on the way inside.   
"Jessica, I'm sorry about all this." Lance began to say as he opened a door. "I'll be wishing you luck, I honestly hope you can find Aaron and he's okay..."  
Jessica smiled, ready to reply when she suddenly glanced at the sight outside of the double doors to the institute.  
At least a dozen cars, all alike and black, sat surrounding the small parking lot. Men in nice, tidy business suits stood beside their doors, not quite the same looking as the men in the hospital, but close. These men looked more....mean, rugged. Like hired help.  
The man closest to them, wearing a gray suit, unlike the others black suits, eased a gun out of a shoulder holster and pointed it at Jessica before she even thought about blinking.  
"Miss. Langston, a pleasure to meet you. I believe my boss is waiting to have a word or two with you." He grinned as he said this, practically ignoring Lance and Eric.  
"Oh? About what?" Jessica tried to act all nonchalant, as if having a loaded gun pointed at her wasn't anything out of the ordinary, as if these suited men were a familiar sight to her. "I'm still working on finishing my paleontology studies, I'm sure there's someone else more important your boss would rather talk to."  
"No, I don't think so." The man frowned. He gestured to the open car door next to him with the gun. "If you would, please?"  
Eric's mind was racing. In a way, this almost seemed like a greater danger than being in the shadows of a building right next to a nuclear-waste mutant. He didn't want his sister to eb taken, probably to wherever these people had taken Aaron. But did he really have a choice?  
'But what if they don't know about the blue stuff yet?' He wondered, looking at the bulge Jess still had hidden under her jacket.  
"Hey! At least give that back!" Eric quickly burst out, leaping at the bulge in her jacket.  
Jessica, shocked, cried out, nearly hitting her brother. The man with the gun quickly gripped it in a stead, two handed position, swinging his aim onto Eric should he try anything. "What do you have under there, Langston?"  
Eric yanked up the container, giving the man a glimpse of it before trying to shove it into his backpack. "Damn, you guys are jumpy. It's just my Jello." Still not in his bag, he wiggled it one more time infront of the guy, enough to make it jiggle and look like Jello before returning to the task of shoving it into the pack. A hard task to do when ones hands were shaking worse than wet dogs.  
  
  
"I still can't believe you did that." Lance broke the silence, glancing from the road to Eric.  
Eric shook his head, not really wanting to talk. "I couldn't let them have both Jessica and the ooze. Maybe we can use this to bargain with them?" He asked more than stated.  
Nodding, Lance returned his full attention back to driving Eric home.  
Alone.  
Helpless.  
He possibly held a bargaining chip in his hands, a chip to save his sister and her unofficial boyfriend Aaron. But how would he even get into contact with these people? And what if they really didn't give a damn weither or not a teenager wanted to bargain or not? They were the ones with the guns. They could just as easily shoot him and take it.  
Suddenly, he wished he were back in Tokyo, Godzilla or not. 


End file.
